Community rallies for 8th-grader 'Sam the Man' battling cancer

Friday

May 9, 2014 at 2:00 AMMay 12, 2014 at 1:35 PM

NORTH HAMPTON — As Sam Thomas eagerly awaited the chance to fulfill his longtime dream on national television, more than a dozen of the eighth-grader's classmates secretly worked to make Wednesday a tear-jerking day to remember for other reasons.

Kyle Stucker

NORTH HAMPTON — As Sam Thomas eagerly awaited the chance to fulfill his longtime dream on national television, more than a dozen of the eighth-grader's classmates secretly worked to make Wednesday a tear-jerking day to remember for other reasons.

Thomas, 14, a North Hampton teenager with rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer also known as RMS, flew to California for a front-row seat at Wednesday's taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

North Hampton School was buzzing this week over the possibility that Thomas could either dance from his wheelchair with DeGeneres during her opening segment tradition, or that he would get pulled onstage to talk with her during the show.

Regardless of whether either would happen, the day was expected to be one of the few recent bright spots for the Thomas family. That's why a group of students and staff decided Wednesday afternoon to use the Thomases' vacation as an opportunity to keep the good times rolling.

Students clad in "Sam the Man" T-shirts spent hours feverishly and secretly raking, mulching, planting, weeding and decorating the yard of the family's Post Road home, all with the hope of bringing a smile to the Thomases' faces when they return home next week.

"He's going through a lot right now," said classmate Caroline Meuse. "The least we could do is help his family through this by doing this."

Thomas was first diagnosed with RMS — a cancerous tumor that develops in the body's soft tissues, usually the muscles, and can spread elsewhere in the body — at the age of 10.

Despite a number of trial treatments and trial chemotherapies, Thomas has subsequently been diagnosed with RMS an additional two times.

Doctors hope intra-arterial chemotherapy, which is a procedure in which the drugs are injected directly into the arteries feeding the tumor, will cure Thomas. The procedure has never been used before for RMS patients, and the Thomas family says it is out of treatment options if it isn't successful.

A number of fund-raisers have been held over the years for Thomas, although this year students learning about social issues and citizen activism decided to take that a step further to help a cause near and dear to their hearts.

Josie Knapp, a classmate of Thomas', said Thomas was her "best friend in preschool" and that the two have had a number of classes together over the years. This connection, as well as the fact that their families know each other "pretty well," makes Thomas' illness and the desire to help him "more personal" for her.

"We're just hoping they know we appreciate him and that we're here for them," said Knapp, who was one of several to describe Thomas as a "very sweet" and "very smart" person. "They're going through a hard time and the community is here to help them with whatever they need."

Wednesday's cleanup was courtesy of numerous donations from local businesses and individuals, as they helped supply the materials and tools.

Debra Vasconcellos, an NHS counselor, said it's almost too "hard to list everyone" who pitched in as part of the effort, which comes shortly after the community raised more than $2,500 for Thomas as part of a themed basket raffle at the school and at the Old Salt Restaurant in Hampton.

Vasconcellos said the amount of support has been "tremendous," and she said it's been great to see the students leading the charge on all of the events.

"When something happens to one person, everyone feels like it happens to them and they want to help out," she said.

Deb Brown, an educational associate at NHS, said all the credit for Wednesday's cleanup belongs to the students and the donors. She said the way they've supported Thomas — even bringing an oversized photo of Thomas on a class trip to Washington, D.C., so students could "pose" with him in front of monuments — has been "amazing."

"Just his whole state of mind and positivity has developed because these kids are showing how much they care," Brown said.

The tickets to DeGeneres' show were also obtained thanks to a connection that a classmate's parents have, and Brown said she knows the efforts to give back to Thomas will make a substantial impact on the Thomas family as well as the community as a whole.

"I think it's hard for adults and I think it's especially hard for kids to reach out," Brown said. "They don't know what to say or how to help. This gives them the opportunity to help.

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